Watch Tower History

John Sunderlin's first wife died in 1899. She made her home in Glens Falls, New York, and was living apart from her husband. Does anyone...

There is a strong, contemporary assertion of the presence of believers in the UK before Food for Thinking Christians was circulated. Other t...

Our special thanks go to Ton, who's sent us a flood of documentation including key newspaper articles we had not seen. Among these is on...

A Church of God minister and pastor of Townsend Street Church of God in Pittsburgh challenged Russell to a debate when Food for Thinking Chr...

The Second Adventists Celebrated the Feast of the Pssover in Allegheny Yesterday. The Feast of the Passover was observed yesterday at a meet...

The claim is sometimes made in print that Russell exhibited at the Centenial Exhibition in 1876. We looked through every list of exhibitors ...

Starting in February 1877, Russell and Barbour went on a preaching tour that took them from Rochester, New York, to Louisville, Kentucky. Ru...

"no man ever lived, with any pretensions whatsoever to Biblical knowledge, who could crowd so much absurdity into so small a space...

In 1892 Russell tried to engage members of the Christian Endeavor Societies to circulate tracts. He detailed the plan in a short newspaper a...

Thanks to Ton for the research ... As reported in the January 20, 1889, Pittsburgh Dispatch, Carried M. Jones filed for divorce on the groun...

Things you haven't seen or don't know ... Albert Delmont Jones was a principal stock holder in the Knickerbocker Bank of New York, ...

We need immediate help from someone in the Atlanta, Georgia, area. We need a volunteer to go to a university there and photo copy a booklet....

Rochester Daily Union and Advertiser. August 29, 1881 A Religious National Convention. The national convention of the “Church of the Kockles...

A brother and sister Burgner/bergner were active in Newark NJ in the 1880's and 1890's. Anyone know anything? A series of newspaper ...

Some time ago I posted about a controversy caused by the circulation of Food for Thinking Christians in Newark, NJ. I asked for help tracing...

We need someone with more talent than we seem to possess to scan the picture of Henry Smith Warleigh found in Froom's Conditionalist Fai...

Comments, please ... Day Dawn, while it addressed the need for a clear statement of their theology, did not fill the need for simple direct ...

Now this is new! Bible Student's Tract number six by Albert Delmont Jones: A call to "The marriage supper of the lamb." the h...

This is a fragment of the chapter we're currently writing. I'm posting it in very rough and incomplete draft. It's open for comm...

Henry Smith Warleigh: Why Evil Was Permitted: A dialogue, published by George Storrs, 1863. We can use any edition. Anyone? Update! We also ...

The Religious Life of London, edited by Richard Mudie-Smith and published in 1904 lists the Woodgrange Road congregation under the name ...

My writing partner, Rachael de Vienne, will be a panelist at an online writers' conference. You may find the discussion on accurate hist...

Meetings were held at 79 Woodgrange Road at the turn of the 20th Century. I don't know if these photos show number 79. Anyone know?

We need a good period photo of 79 Woodgrange Road, London. Any photo taken about 1900 or so would do. I understand a pizza place is there no...

From The Atlantic Monthly, March 1888 Millennial Dawn, vol. i.; the Plan of the Ages. (Zion's Watch Tower. Pittsburgh.) The reader will ...

Research needs: We need access to the major Pittsburgh newspapers from 1877-79, 1881-3. We especially need to see the Pittsburg Gazette for ...

The comment failed to post, and I'm reposting it as a main topic. Hi Bruce Posting this on your site rather than backchannel this time. ...

Our research is moving slowly. Prying material out of the hands of those who own it is very difficult, and there are details we want to pres...

Almost everyone who leaves a comment here has been thoughtful and kind. Yet, there are a few who do not seem to understand things I've c...

Nelson Barbour’s last trip remains a puzzle. He traveled to Washington State in the company of Nancy W. Fuller. Nancy W. Fuller was born Nan...

... an explanation for the harassment my co-writer is experiencing, apparently from people who I would in normal circumstances call "br...

A few weeks ago I sent you details of the new biography of Pastor Russell written by Fredrick Zydek, available on Amazon. Having finished re...

Most of the Barbour family used the name Barber. The will is probated under that spelling. The will names "Nelson Barber and the childr...

Additional research into Nelson Barbour's childhood shows that he is not the son of Friend Barbour (also spelled Barber), but the grands...

When many willing hands help locate a document: Dear B. W. Schulz: Prior to 1985 the Archives of the Episcopal Church was managed by the His...

Food for Thinking Christians reached Liberia by 1884. By 1885 there was a small group and by 1888 they had formally organized a congregation...

Song 27: Originally titled "Children of the Heavenly King," but retitled Always Rejoicing. Written by John Cennick in 1742. Listen...

Song 23, Original title was Blessed be the Tie that Binds but retitled Christian Fellowship. Listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0a...

I'm up and arround in a limited way. We're still resolving some personal issues, but my computer should be back and healthy sometime...

Bruce is doing some better. Unfortunately, uncle Bruce and aunt Shirley have continuing problems. Their car died. Bruce's computer crash...

I'm answering a private email in a public forum. I've deleted personal references but retained most of the body of the email. The qu...

We're researching Caleb Crandell. The only place he is mentioned in connection with Watch Tower history is in a Yearbook article. We lac...